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It is believed that he had a command of all the sciences and knowledge of his
time, thus he was given the title of Hakeem (sage, learned). He has, also, been
referred to with honorary titles such as Hujjat al-Haqq (the evidence of truth)
and Ghiyath al Din (the patron of faith) all of which show that the community
had lots of respect for him and he was recognized as a religious authority too.
The majority of his scientific work was written in Arabic which was the
scientific language during his time, but his inspiring poetry, known as
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the Arabic for wool (Suf) which refers to the simple clothes of its original
practitioners, and by contrast with many believers the Sufis led solitary and
simple lives in order to bring them nearer to God and immerse the individual
human soul within the unity of God. There are many schools of Sufism and
there is also a wide variety of explanations of the central doctrines.
The Sufi movement started in the early years of Islam, perhaps in the seventh
or eighth century, and gained many believers. In its glory days in Iran Sufism
inspired some of the finest poems in the Persian language. But after some
time, the movement fell into disregard and some of its practices received
sharp criticism not only from Orthodox Muslims, who regarded Sufism as
close to heresy, but also from intellectuals.
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2.
Intellect
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Unity
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Khayyam confesses that, despite his mastery over the exoteric and
mysterious sciences, he is still bewildered by the mystery of the world.
I know existence and non-existence, outwardly though
I know all that is high and what is below
Despite my mastery, shamefully, I am ignorant
For I know not a degree higher than darkness to go4
Intellect
Sufis place God in a transcendental domain beyond the reach of reason, and
in so doing, reason and rationality is belittled. Traditionally, rationalization
and reasoning have been criticized by Sufis as an inferior ability that is
incapable of understanding divine reality. Khayyam seems to be in Sufis side
in his poetry:
No understanding reached Thy height sublime,
For thought can only move in space or time;
No soul can grasp Thy perfections, O Lord!
And Thou alone could gauge Thy height, O prime!5
My soaring mind cannot approach Thy throne.
I kiss this ground and thus for sins atone.
O wondrous Charmer! Who can know Thy Being?
Perchance, Thy knower may be Thou lone6
In the tradition of great Sufi masters, he criticizes reason and intellect as well
as the formalism of the religious law. Wine, this powerful symbol of divine
intoxication and of dissolving and annihilating oneself in divine love, is used by
Khayyam exactly as traditional Sufis do.
You know my friends, with what a brave Carouse
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wine and Beloved. These two key concepts that are repeated in the majority
of the Ruba`iyyat play a crucial role in understanding Khayyam. It can be
argued that by Beloved Khayyam means the only Being worthy to be loved.
This long-standing tradition and interpretation of Khayyam highlights the Sufi
usage of the concept of Beloved. If taken literally, one ends up with Khayyam
as an agnostic hedonist who prescribes worldly pleasures as a remedy for the
meaninglessness of life. However, if wine and the Beloved are understood in
their traditional Sufi connotations, then we have a different Khayyam: a Sufi
master who belittles all that is transient and thus unreal.
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Unity
The final goal of a Sufi is union with God. It should occur before death. The
saying, "Die before your death," refers to a spiritual death and rebirth, a
rebirth whose ultimate aim is to achieve unity with God. In Ruba'iyyat we
read:
In danger who allureth? I or thou
And who with tigers playeth? I or thou
I cannot speak myself if I be thine
If I am thou, who speaketh? I or thou 16
Based on the abovementioned, Khayyam has come to be identified as a Sufi
poet because he has adopted certain features of Sufi thought such as
acknowledgment of the impermanence of the world, the attainment of a
particular type of joy, and the wisdom that is the result of drinking the wine
of wisdom.
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prelude to the fourth, which should be inspiring, delicate, and short. This
four-lined stanza became popular in Persian poetry for the simplicity of its
style and its short length which allows an aphorism to be delivered well. In
the early period of Persian literary tradition the four parts often rhymed, but
by the time of Khayyam, only the first, second and fourth lines rhymed,
providing the poet with a greater degree of freedom.
The central and salient features of Khayyam's Ruba'iyyat can be divided into
seven categories that are treated and illuminated in a variety of ways:
1. Impermanence and the meaning of life
2. Theodicy and justice
3. The here and now
4. Doubt and bewilderment
5. Death and afterlife
6. Determinism and predestination
7. In wine there is truth
The abovementioned all form a unified system of belief. What lies at the heart
of the Khayyamian message is the notion of impermanence. Life is changing
like the sands of the desert and clouds in the sky and only a fool can take
this game seriously. Life is not only impermanent, but also fundamentally
unjust. It is a mystery why a good God would allow so much suffering to be
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The last one is the wine of wisdom that enables the wise fool to play the
game of existence without taking it seriously. Wine is one of the central
themes of Khayyam's poetry and runs throughout his entire Ruba'iyyat. It is
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the symbol of the type of wisdom whose effect brings about the detachment
one needs in order to live a life.
Now we can go through Rubaiyyat and trace the mentioned themes in more
details.
Impermanence and the Meaning of Life
Throughout his Ruba'iyyat, Khayyam repeatedly uses the imagery of a jug to
indicate the principle of generation and corruption. According to Holy
Qur'an God created men from clay, and then blew unto him from his own
breath. The temporary nature of the clay is a reminder of the worthlessness
of worldly endeavors.
I saw the potter in the market yesterday
Pounding and pounding upon a fresh piece of clay
"Behold," said the clay to the potter
Treat me gently for once like you, now I am clay17
I once bought a jug from a potter's hand
The jug revealed secrets from every strand
"I was a king with a golden chalice" said the jug
Now look, I am a jug in every drunken hand18
The potter is sometimes the universe, and often God. The jug represents
humans, and the bazaar is life, where the potter makes the jugs that are
bought and sold as they get old, crack and vanish.
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The past, present and future come to an end in death where all concerns,
fears and hopes vanish into the deep hole of nothingness. Qaraguzlu, in his
work Omar Khayyam, argues that Khayyam's emphasis on the impermanence of the world is an evidence of the reality of the only permanent
Being, God. According to Khayyams Rubaiyyat what is important in life, in
addition to God, are love and joy. Carpe diem echoes in this quatrain:
Few in number, days of our lives have passed away
Like water in a creek and wind in the valley; they sway
the sorrow of two days have never haunted me
The day that hasn't come and the one that has gone away19
Theodicy and Justice
Regarding Theodicy and Justice, Khayyam asks some questions in his
Rubaiyyat. Why is there suffering? Why would a creator allow so much suffering? Can we overcome suffering? Suffering is an essential part of the
formation of the world and, therefore, an inescapable condition. In a quatrain
we read:
In what life yields in this Two-door monastery
Your share in the pain of heart and death will tarry
The one who does not bear a child is happy
And he not born of a mother, merry20
"Two-door monastery" refers to the world where one comes through the
door of birth and leaves from the gate of death. Here the world is compared to
a monastery where monks live an austere and ascetic life and tolerate
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suffering. The mystery, however, is not the presence of suffering in our lives
but the role of God with regard to it. In some quatrains we read:
Life is dark and maze-like, it is
Suffering cast upon us and comfort in abyss
Praise the Lord for all the means of evil
Ask none other than He for malice.21
You wish to be wise, yes even you!
Perplexed you are and know not what to do;
So Time, your teacher, flogs you and strikes
Until out of pain, you pray to Him too.22
Khayyam's, then, argues that while the problem cannot be resolved, one can
come to terms with it. He tries to solve the problem independent of God,
faith, and reason. His alternative view is to leave the world, not in an extreme
ascetic sense, but in a rational and Epicurean sense. He states that much
suffering is self-caused and origins from greed, possessiveness, and a desire
to have more. The fundamental cause of evil is attachment, the solution is
detachment.
These Noble lords who lead the worldly van,
Are sick of life, their hides alone they tan
But strange! I shun the yoke of greed they bear
The beasts! They call me "beast" and not a man.23
O friend, do not indulge in this world's sorrow
From the world of vain grief and sadness, don't borrow
the past is gone and the future is not yet here,
Be happy and fear not the sorrow of tomorrow.24
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there are specific conditions imposed upon us like We are born and we die
by necessity, To exist is to suffer and All creation is subject to the laws of
nature. we have no choice but to submit:
argues that
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Khayyam proposes that we should accept our fate, and it means to come to a
rational understanding of the destiny of humankind, its constraints, limits,
and fundamental constitutions. The following Ruba'i is an example of the
Khayyams view on free will and determinism:
The Fate will not correct what once she writes
And more than what is doled no grain alights;
Beware of bleeding heart with sordid cares
For cares will cast thy heart in wretched plights41
In Wine There is Truth
Intoxication and wine bring together various aspects of Khayyamian thought
and shows how one can encounter temporality and death and still live a
spiritual life. In this part, lets begin with three possible interpretations of
the use of imagery of wine by Khayyam42:
1.
2.
3.
There are those who have taken Khayyam's use of the concept of wine in its
literal sense. Nasir Khusraw who in his Safar namah argues that drinking
wine is necessary to forget the pain of the world. The other extreme is
exemplified by the orthodox such as S. Nakhjavani, who, in his puritanical
study of Khayyam entitled Khayyam penddri rejects the notion that Khayyam
could have ever prescribed drinking wine, for he was a devoted Muslim and
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drinking wine is prohibited in Islam. There is, also, the view of those such as
Khurasani, who believes that Khayyam had Sufi tendencies, but, being a
skeptic and a pessimist, he prescribed drinking wine as a solution to his own
unhappiness.43
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Notes.
1. Mehdi Aminrazavi. The wine of wisdom. 2005-2007,p.136
2. Govinda Tirtha, The Nectar of Grace, p.1, modified by M.Aminrazavi
3. Ibid.
4 . Heron Allen, Omar Khayyam, 1899, p.89
5 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.2, modified by M. Aminrazavi
6. Ibid.
7. Edward FitzGerald, The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, p.141, no.55
8. Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.140, modified by M. Aminrazavi
9 . Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat Omar Khayyam, Berkeley,1991, p.62
10 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.139, modified by M. Aminrazavi
11 . Ibid. p.27
12 . Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat Omar Khayyam,Berkeley 1991, p.232
13. Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.131
14 . Ibid.
15 . Edward FitzGerald, The Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, p.102
16 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.275, modified by M. Aminrazavi
17 . Mehdi Aminrazavi. The wine of wisdom, 2005-2007, p. 101
18. Ibid.
19 . Ibid. p. 102
20. Ibid. p. 107
21. Ibid.
22 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.89
23 . Mehdi Aminrazavi. The wine of wisdom, 2005-2007, p. 109
24. Ibid. p. 108
25 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.103
26. E.H. Whinfield, The Quatrains of Omar Khayyam, p.30
27. Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, p.88.
28. Ibid. p.132
29. Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.61
30. Ibid, p.229
31. Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, Berkeley 1991, p.158
32 . Ibid. p.153
33 . Ibid. p.181
34 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.249, modified by M. Aminrazavi
35 . Ibid, p.249
36. Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, Berkeley 1991, p.86
37 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.83
38. Ahmad Saidi. Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam, Berkeley 1991, p.195
39 . Govinda Tritha, The Nectar of Grace, p.18
40. Ibid.
41 . Ibid. p.83
42 . Mehdi Aminrazavi. The win of wisdom, 2005-2007, p. 126
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